1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to book holders and more particularly, but not by way of limitation to a holder for music books having soft covers, the holder being supportable by a music stand, piano music rest or the like.
2. History of the Prior Art
Much of the music produced today is bound in soft cover books whereby at the spine of the book, the pages are glued together along the back edges. When these books are new and often after the books are fairly well used, it is practically impossible to get the book to set on a music stand or the music rest plate of the piano without having pages accidentally turn. Musicians have a constant problem of not only keeping the music book in an open position but also turning pages during the playing of a particular musical composition.
Piano players historically have used extra books on the piano music rest plate that are placed in contact with the open pages to keep the book open to a certain position. When it comes time to change the page, the musician then must use both hands to turn the page and resecure the music to the desired open position.
Another technique that is used is to actually have an assistant sitting on the piano bench or nearby which must keep track of the music and do the page turning for the musician.
Various music book holders have been developed in the past but most use some variation of a pair of spring-loaded pivotal arm members which may be placed across the open pages of the book to hold it in an open position. While this solves the problem of keeping the book open to the desired page location, it is still extremely difficult to turn the pages without an assistant or without removing both hands from the musical instrument in order to effect the page turning.
The same general problem exists in cases where a person is hospitalized or attempting to read a book from a bed, it is next to impossible to keep the book open to the desired page location without grapsing the book with both hands.